Checking a few more things off the list can give residents extra security and peace of mind while they are out of town.

"You definitely wanted to tell your trusted neighbor so there are an extra set of eyes watching," Officer Joe Silva, spokesman for the Stockton Police Department said. "Home burglaries are actually down for the year over last year and one reason is Neighborhood Watch programs. The neighbors are basically taking care of their neighborhood."

Silva also recommends setting lights on a timer, having the landscaping maintained and stopping deliveries.

"The most important thing is that you try and make it look like you are home when you are away," Becky Plath, of the Stockton Police Department's VIPS program said.

For extra peace of mind, the Volunteers in Police Service program will send a VIPS patrol to check on the home.

There are some limitations on what they will do because they are senior volunteers and vacation patrols are only offered Mondays through Fridays.

"That's one of our services to the community," she said, adding that residents can call VIPS at (209) 937-8477 to book the free service. "And residents can call us and we have questions we will ask so we can have as much information as we can, such as who will be coming by the house, do you have an alarm, things like that."

Elizabeth Dodson, cofounder of online home management solutions at homezada.com, recommends that people refrain from posting vacation pictures on Facebook and other social media sites while they are away.

"Posting your vacation pictures while you are gone on vacation, you are signaling to the world that you are not at home and will not be returning any time in the very near future," she said. "We may think we know who our Facebook friends are but it is always better to be safe than sorry."

The Spessard family of Stockton takes extra steps to safeguard their home when they vacation, even though they feel secure in their gated community.

"Basically, what we do is when we are going to be gone for a length of time, we get a housesitter and he comes over and checks the mail, take the trash out and brings it back in, takes care of the animals and everything. We have some lights on a timer," Shelley Spessard said. "We let our close neighbors know and we let security know because they have all our contact information."

Taking these kinds of steps can help make vacation more relaxing, she said.